l never appear in history. But they
_'appened_, Mister--'appened as surely as I am sitting here with an
empty pot in front o' me. An'--an'----" McNab stammered in his
excitement--"if any bloke says they didn't, be jabers, I'll--I'll drink
his beer!"

But neither the old gentleman nor any member of the company wished to
disagree with him, and he rose up from the chair with a mug to order his
final half-pint. He returned (a trifle unsteadily, perhaps) with his
beer and a particularly vile cigar in his mouth. Whether it was the
effect of the heat or the--er--beer I cannot say, but he blundered over
my legs, causing me a sharp twinge of pain.

"What an awkward beggar you are that you can't see to walk straight," I
said.

McNab looked down at my legs after giving them another stirring up with
his foot. "Why, Go' bless my soul," he said, "it's quite true, I am an
awkward devil. I certainly should have seen _those_ feet. However did
you get 'em into the bar?"

V

THROUGH THE FURNACE

Give us our rest, O Father, in thine own appointed time and of thy
gracious olden fashion. Lay thy annulling seal upon the o'erlabored
heart: drop thy healing nepenthe into the weary brain. Teach us not
to fear that which brings us nearer to Thee. Suffer us to go to
sleep with no more consciousness than the flowers that take no care
for their awakening. Give us this last and best of all thy
gifts--Parva domus, magna quies!

Hilaire O'Hagan sat in the September sunshine on the grass that skirted
the roadside. For some time he had been examining with a stare of
melancholy interest the worn toes of his boots. On his head was a dingy
straw hat; to his form and limbs there hung a faded and creased coat and
a pair of shiny black trousers;--he held in his hand five shillings
which had been thrust into his hand when the prison gates had opened to
him that morning. He had taken the money and swaggered out with a
parting gibe at the constable who closed the doors behind him.

O'Hagan was an incorrigible rascal. Some years before, when he stood in
the Assize Court, a venerable judge had told him so. "O'Hagan," said
the judge grimly, "you are what I should term an incorrigible rogue, and
I shall send you to prison for two years with hard labour. You have run
across my path many times before. When you gain your liberty it will be
very much to your advantage if you keep out of my way for good and all."

O'Hagan ha